Today is all we've got

In the last few months, I have encountered many people who have had near brushes with death – totally unexpected and out of the blue. People who believe they are healthy and exercise on a regular basis are having heart attacks; internal organs suddenly rupturing or are being diagnosed with cancer.

Then today I open the newspaper and see a man who was always full of himself, Willy Bassett,  dead. And I am left speechless.

What are we doing to ourselves that our bodies are giving out from under us? Are we not listening to our inner voice telling us to stop, slow down, and listen? Have we become so conditioned to going all the time that we can’t relax? Can’t stop without feeling guilty?

Life is too short for us to be killing ourselves early. With all the medical help, leisure activities and more wealth than our parents and their parents before them ever had, there is no excuse for us to neglect ourselves. Instead of trying to please everyone else, do what is expected rather than desired, and not be true to ourselves, we need to take a step back from our lives and really assess why we are experiencing such heartache and pain. We need to explore why it is so necessary to constantly be on the treadmill going nowhere fast.

I learnt from the age of thirteen just how fragile and short life can be – how it can abruptly change without a moment’s notice when my mother went to bed one night and never woke up again. Shattering my life and the lives of my immediate family. I vowed from that day on that I would live my life to the fullest. I would try as much as I possibly could to pursue whatever dreams I wanted. To live the best life that I could because I know that life should not be taken for granted.  And tomorrow, let alone today, is not promised to anyone.

So for all of us that think that tomorrow will do. It won’t. Let’s face it there is no tomorrow. All we’ve got is today. Go to the doctor annually. Don’t be ashamed to see your doctor if you have an inner feeling about something not feeling right. If his or her answer isn’t satisfactory, keep seeking until that inner radar stops beeping.

Find what you are passionate about and pursue it even if it is just a hobby – that hobby could turn into your next big break. And most of all never ever give up on living your life to the best of your ability. Negativity attracts negativity.  Positive people always attract positive things in their lives.

Life is not a dress rehearsal. It’s all we’ve got and we have to be grateful each day for waking up another day and having the fortitude to go out and move closer to being content with who we truly are.

Rest in peace Willy, this one is for you – a reminder of how all we have is today.